For a number of years, individuals have viewed media content as traditional media broadcasts on television sets. Typically, the individuals tune to a specific channel and watch the programming content that is broadcast on that channel, or otherwise watch a recorded version of the programming content. Companies who produce and/or broadcast the content have decades worth of relevant engagement and ratings data to identify potentially popular content as well as create advertising strategies for the content. For example, networks may leverage demographics and ratings data during negotiations with advertisers who wish to target the viewers of the network.
However, there is an increasing amount of usage of “alternative” screens or devices for content consumption. In particular, individuals are increasingly using devices other than televisions to view or consume various media such as standalone videos and programming content. For example, individuals are increasingly using devices such as smartphones, tablets, notebook computers, and the like to view streaming videos directly on websites or via various dedicated applications. The alternative screens typically allow for more user interaction (e.g., skipping within videos) than does traditional television viewing. Further, individuals generally have less willingness to watch longer videos and advertisements on alternative screens. Accordingly, the traditional engagement data and third-party data that is associated with traditional television viewing is not necessarily applicable to alternative screen viewing. As a result, content producers and providers are not able to optimize content delivery for playback on alternative screens.
Therefore, there is an opportunity for techniques for gathering relevant data to improve content production and delivery to enhance the viewing experience for individuals.